The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - At least 12 children have died in unlicensed at-home day cares since 1995 in Ohio, and two more have died in licensed centers, a newspaper reported Monday.

In most cases, the homes had more than the six children allowed by state law when the deaths occurred, the Columbus Dispatch reported. Some at-home providers repeatedly received warnings for exceeding the six-child limit, the newspaper said. The law requiring a license to care for more children does not include fines or other penalties.

No official record is kept of day-care deaths and injuries. Nor does the state count children cared for in the unregulated homes, but child-care experts agree they far outnumber the 227,000 children enrolled in the 3,500 licensed day-care centers in Ohio.

Rick Smith, an assistant deputy director with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said the department plans to increase enforcement. Home inspections will be ordered for every fifth complaint the state receives, as well as for allegations of 10 or more children being cared for at one time.

The department will try to do so without hiring more inspectors, spokesman Dennis Evans said. The Dispatch reported that each inspector already is responsible for 76 licensed centers.

In recent years, the department started automatic inspections on repeat complaints, Mr. Evans said.

Parents have a hard time researching whether a home day-care provider has had problems, because the state keeps details of complaints confidential.

The newspaper analyzed more than 6,600 state inspection reports of licensed day cares for the two years ending Feb. 1.